NewsOK: Oklahoma City News, Sports, Weather & Entertainment

More than 15% of US adults are inactive

More than 15% of the American adult population is physically inactive, according to a new joint survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments.

People classified as inactive said they had not participated in leisure-time physical activity in the past month: No running or walking for exercise. No gardening. No golf.

The most inactive state is Mississippi, with 33% of its adult residents labeled inactive. The state with the fewest inactive adults is Colorado, at 17.3%. (It is one of four states — plus the District of Columbia, at 19.8% — with less than 20% of their residents classified as inactive. The other three states are Oregon, Utah and Washington.)

The South is the region with the most inactive residents — 28% — compared with 25.6% in the Northeast, 25% in the Midwest and 20.5% in the West.

Besides Mississippi, six other states — Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee — had 30% or more of their adult residents reporting no leisure-time physical activity. Research has shown that lack of physical activity makes people more likely to develop high blood pressure and high cholesterol and raises risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

Being active has many benefits, including improving mood, boosting energy, promoting better sleep, controlling or losing weight, building strong bones and muscles, and reducing the risk for an array of chronic diseases.